Lesner Inn sits where the Lynnhaven River meets the Chesapeake Bay, creating the optimal location for your Wedding, Social or Corporate Event

Stepping Out of Tradition

While wedding traditions in the past seemed to be set in stone, it seems that more and more couples are making it their goal to break these traditions. Things like not seeing each other before the ceremony, wearing a white dress, or rice showers upon exit are becoming less and less common, and more fun and exciting alternatives are on the rise. For your guests, attending a wedding that breaks tradition gives you immediate cool points, and gives you bragging rights for years to come! Here are some of Lesner Inn’s favorite breaks in tradition!

Can’t See Each Other Before Ceremony

Amanda Hedgepeth Photography

This age old tradition dates back to when marriage was considered to be more of a business deal than a symbol of eternal love. When arranged marriages were the norm, the bride and groom wouldn’t have even met before the ceremony. The tradition of not seeing each other was actually born because the families didn’t want the bride or groom to back out of the “transaction” if they weren’t attracted to each other. Side note, this is also the intended purpose of the veil. Makes you really second guess whether or not to participate in this tradition, right? While some couples have not put this tradition in the past where it belongs, many are seeing it as an adorable photo opportunity! It can be difficult to photograph the moment you first see each other with a crowd of people all trying to see the same thing your photographer is. We love the idea of making this more of an event for the bride and groom so they have an intimate memory of the first time they saw each other on their wedding day.

Drinks Start After the Ceremony

Who decided that the fun can’t start before the ceremony? When your guests begin to
arrive and take their seats, why shouldn’t they be offered a light beverage to get the evening started? Whether it be a champagne punch, beer, wine, or all of the above nobody ever turned down a nice refreshing beverage! If you don’t want to offer alcohol before the ceremony, you can always offer infused water, iced tea, lemonade, hot chocolate, or any other fun drink you can think of to start the night off right!

Flower Girls

Dustin Lewis Photography

Traditionally, the flower girl is a young girl who scatters flower petals to give the bride and groom luck in fertility. This tradition, like most of these wedding traditions, originated from superstition back when the Earth was thought to be flat. We think it’s time to go out with the old and in with the new with this tradition, or in this case out with the new and in with the old? One of our favorite plays on tradition was when grandparents were featured as flower girls and ring bearers during the ceremony! The crowd went wild, and we at the Lesner Inn still talk about this moment with our clients!

White Dress

Caitlin Gerres Photography

White was adopted as the traditional color for a bridal gown in the Victorian era, as a symbol of purity and innocence of girlhood. As traditions change, it becomes less common for brides to be looked down on for avoiding the cookie cutter white dress. Instead, brides are opting for gowns in ivory, nude, and even subdued pink. We love this break in tradition, and encourage brides to opt for a dress they love over staying within the narrow lines of tradition!Grooms Attire

The bride isn’t the only one who is expected to fall within a traditional mold for attire. The

Ross Costanza Photography

groom is expected to wear a white button down shirt, with a vest, and overcoat on the wedding day! However, we see more and more grooms coming out with a more casual look, opting for the button down with just the overcoat or vest, or just the button down with rolled up sleeves! We know this is great news for the groomsmen when it comes to a summer wedding!

Wedding Cake

When we think of a wedding cake, what comes to mind is a traditional three tiered cake representing the engagement, wedding, and eternity rings. However, if you’re not a cake lover then spending hundreds of dollars on a cake for the sake of tradition probably isn’t the best way to budget your wedding. Many couples are switching to cupcakes, but we’ve even seen alternatives such as donuts, tiramisu, and pie! Try switching it up for your sweet treat!

Throwing Rice

Okay, we will admit this tradition has been long gone! But we just love talking about all of the fun exits that can be done instead of throwing rice or flower petals! One of our favorite, and most common, exits are sparkler exits! They make for such amazing pictures! And of course we can’t forget how amazing boat exits are off of our dock onto the Lynnhaven River!

David Champagne Photography

Traditions are just like your everyday trend, changing over time with one bold move that leads the pack!